With all the hoopla (full-album setlisted original lineup tour, SPIN retrospective, etc.) around Last Splash in 2013, I can’t help but feel it’s time for Pacer to get its due. At the time of its releases, pithmaster General Robert Christgau slogged off the album as “slight,” but time has shown me that where Frank Black Francis’ yelping, David Thomas-y sing-song has grown shrill and cloying, Kim Deal’s ciggy-charred, girl-group-that-beats-up-the-other-girl-groups voice has only calcified in its ineffable grace. There was such a charge putting this album on, after hearing “Tipp City” on 120 Minutes, and realizing it only gets better.
As much as I’d loved Last Splash, it paled in comparison to this catchy, cut-loose batch of unassailably distinctive garage anthems. The only thing slight about this album was that it left me wanting more, and near-20 years later, even spare, thorny sidesteps like “Breaking The Split Screen Barrier” and “Hoverin,” have exponentially grown on me with their offbeat charms (dig that crash cymbal work at 1:48 on the latter). The Dean did offer some praise of Kim’s voice, as it is one of those irresistible elements that make her stop-start musical career all the more frustrating. But life happens, and you can’t force inspiration (some of Mountain Battles illustrated the unfortunate result of this).
I recommend the above video — my current favorite and side two opener, “First Revival” — as a stellar example (out of 12) of how this album is truly inspired and a million times better than its obscure displacement in rock history would suggest.
